Perfect prince Jake Gyllenhaal

Jordan Mechner - who worked as a writer on 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' featuring Jake as Prince Dastan - confesses the hunky actor was perfect for the role because he has "the right spirit".

He said: "I think the director Mike Newell put together a fantastic cast.

"Jake Gyllenhaal makes a terrific prince. He is a very good actor but he also has the right spirit - besides being a warrior and in the best shape of his life, he has got humanity that is really important."

However, Newell confesses he had many thoughts about who he wanted to cast in the leading role.

He revealed to MovieWeb.com: "I had always thought about Jake Gyllenhaal. I wanted him to be American because this was a huge budget movie and the Americans deserve to see their own. At the same time I was encouraged to cast English."

Discussing his decision to cast Gemma Arterton as Princess Tamina, Newell admits he looked far and wide for the right star.

He said: "I was thinking about going to Bollywood for the girl. I saw a lot of Bollywood actresses. I saw a couple of sensational Iranian actress, an Israeli actress or two. I wanted a kind of exotic look.

"Then up pops Gemma Arterton from Gravesend, England and she was the one I settled on. I felt very strongly about both leads."